Mystery Over How BJP's Kummanam Landed on Maiden Kochi Metro Ride

In a Facebook post, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran urged authorities to investigate the “lapses” that allowed Rajasekharan on the Metro ride as he is not even a panchayat member in the state.

Thiruvananthapuram: A fresh controversy has erupted over the presence of BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the maiden Kochi Metro ride on Saturday morning, with a Kerala minister calling it a “security breach.”

In a Facebook post, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran urged authorities to investigate the “lapses” that allowed Rajasekharan on the Metro ride as he is not even a panchayat member in the state.

Rajasekharan was seen seated with Governor P Sathasivam, PM Modi, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu in their maiden ride. He said he was given permission by the PM's Special Protection Group.

However, Surendran said that Rajasekharan’s name was not in the original list of names cleared by the Prime Minister’s Office for the launch function or the ride.

“If even Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, local MLA P T Thomas and Metro Man E Sreedharan were not cleared citing security reasons, why was Rajashekharan permitted to enter a purely official function?” asked the minister in his post.

The minister’s observation was shared by many on social media, with many hilarious takes on how he landed up on the maiden ride and the BJP’s attempt to appropriate credit for the construction of the 25km link.

Hitting back, BJP state General Secretary K Surendran said it was the Prime Minister's Office which had included Rajasekharan in the journey.

“The PMO takes decision on matters like who will attend the Prime Minister's function and the state minister need not worry about his protection," he said.

In a Facebook post of his own, the BJP leader said the Special Protection Group is there to provide security for the Prime Minister and the minister's intervention is not required.

Reacting to the issue, Rajasekharan said he was allowed to travel with the Prime Minister by the SPG and the state police. “If Surendran had any objections, he should have taken up the matter with the Chief Minister as he was witness to everything,” he said.